Friday, February 28
Memphis, Tenn.
4 p.m.
University of Memphis
6-3
24
vs
3
Western Illinois
0-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Western Illinois
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
7
5
Memphis
2
2
0
0
10
6
3
1
X
24
17
0
Photo by: Matthew A. Smith
Offense erupts in 24-3 series-opening win
Feb 28, 2020 | Baseball
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – On a chilly evening at FedExPark on Friday, Memphis baseball provided the hot offense in a 24-3 win against Western Illinois.
The Tigers' 24 runs are the most in a single game since 2003, while their 17 hits are a season high. The victory also pushed the Tigers' win streak to five games.
"We had five freshmen in there tonight. When games get like that, players may start giving at-bats away," head coach Daron Schoenrock said of the focus. "What I liked about tonight was our young guys grinding. I thought we stacked together great at-bats throughout the game."
Junior Ben Brooks turned in his second straight four-hit game, going 4-for-6 at the plate and added career high in RBIs (five) and runs scored (four).
A total of six players turned in multiple-hit nights. Behind Brooks, sophomore Hunter Goodman tallied a trio of hits with a career-best seven RBI. Goodman also connected on a pair of home runs for his third multi-homer game of his young career.
Freshman Jaylen Wilbon, senior Alec Trela, junior Zach Wilson and freshman Max Hildreth also each tallied two hits. Wilbon also plated five runs, the most by a Tigers since Phillip Chapman in 2010.
"Whatever it takes to get a win, that's what I'm going to do," Wilbon said on his five-run night. "I come up to the plate with the same approach. If the pitch is there and they're playing me in, I'll use my other side of my game and that's what I had to do today."
On the mound, Daniel Casto earned his first career victory. The freshman registered four strikeouts in two innings pitched. After combining for 16 strikeouts as a staff against Central Arkansas on Tuesday, the Memphis pitching staff posted 15 strikeouts against the Leathernecks on Friday night.
"I think the key was Casto coming in and flipping the count. Then we threw the big inning on the board and took the momentum," Schoenrock said of the bullpen effort. "They had (starter Danny) Denz on the ropes a couple times, but Casto flipped it back to us and that was good to see."
The Tigers struck early, building a four-run lead after two innings of play.
Out to a 4-1 lead, Memphis put the game out of reach with a 10-run fifth inning. In the frame, Memphis sent 14 batters to the plate and scored the most runs in an inning since 2017.
Throughout the fifth, Brooks connected on the team's first triple of the season and Hunter Goodman blasted his first homer of the game for a three-run round-tripper.
The Tigers continued the momentum into the sixth, where Memphis scratched across six runs. A pair of RBI singles from Wilbon and Brooks preceded Goodman's second home run of the contest, a grand slam over the left-centerfield wall.
With the bullpen keeping the Leatherneck bats quiet, Memphis added three runs in the seventh and one in the eighth.
Game 2 of the three-game set is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday at FedExPark.
The Tigers' 24 runs are the most in a single game since 2003, while their 17 hits are a season high. The victory also pushed the Tigers' win streak to five games.
"We had five freshmen in there tonight. When games get like that, players may start giving at-bats away," head coach Daron Schoenrock said of the focus. "What I liked about tonight was our young guys grinding. I thought we stacked together great at-bats throughout the game."
Junior Ben Brooks turned in his second straight four-hit game, going 4-for-6 at the plate and added career high in RBIs (five) and runs scored (four).
A total of six players turned in multiple-hit nights. Behind Brooks, sophomore Hunter Goodman tallied a trio of hits with a career-best seven RBI. Goodman also connected on a pair of home runs for his third multi-homer game of his young career.
Freshman Jaylen Wilbon, senior Alec Trela, junior Zach Wilson and freshman Max Hildreth also each tallied two hits. Wilbon also plated five runs, the most by a Tigers since Phillip Chapman in 2010.
"Whatever it takes to get a win, that's what I'm going to do," Wilbon said on his five-run night. "I come up to the plate with the same approach. If the pitch is there and they're playing me in, I'll use my other side of my game and that's what I had to do today."
On the mound, Daniel Casto earned his first career victory. The freshman registered four strikeouts in two innings pitched. After combining for 16 strikeouts as a staff against Central Arkansas on Tuesday, the Memphis pitching staff posted 15 strikeouts against the Leathernecks on Friday night.
"I think the key was Casto coming in and flipping the count. Then we threw the big inning on the board and took the momentum," Schoenrock said of the bullpen effort. "They had (starter Danny) Denz on the ropes a couple times, but Casto flipped it back to us and that was good to see."
The Tigers struck early, building a four-run lead after two innings of play.
Out to a 4-1 lead, Memphis put the game out of reach with a 10-run fifth inning. In the frame, Memphis sent 14 batters to the plate and scored the most runs in an inning since 2017.
Throughout the fifth, Brooks connected on the team's first triple of the season and Hunter Goodman blasted his first homer of the game for a three-run round-tripper.
The Tigers continued the momentum into the sixth, where Memphis scratched across six runs. A pair of RBI singles from Wilbon and Brooks preceded Goodman's second home run of the contest, a grand slam over the left-centerfield wall.
With the bullpen keeping the Leatherneck bats quiet, Memphis added three runs in the seventh and one in the eighth.
Game 2 of the three-game set is slated for 2 p.m. on Saturday at FedExPark.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Casto, Daniel (1-0)
L: Jace Warkentien (0-3)
Batting:
HR: Drue Galassi 1
RBI: Gage Cruz 1 ; Drue Galassi 2
SF: Gage Cruz 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Chase VanDerGinst 1 ; Trenton Bauer 1 ; Drue Galassi 1
SB: Luke Schwartz 1 ; Grant Hannant 1
HBP: Dillon Sears 2 ; Luke Schwartz 1
Batting:
2B: Wilbon, Jaylen 1 ; Trela, Alec 1 ; Bibiloni, Ian 1 ; Webb, Braden 1
3B: Brooks, Ben 1
HR: Goodman, Hunter 2
RBI: Wilbon, Jaylen 3 ; Brooks, Ben 5 ; Goodman, Hunter 7 ; Trela, Alec 1 ; Wilson, Zach 2 ; Bell, Evan 1 ; Webb, Braden 2
SF: Wilson, Zach 1 ; Bell, Evan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilbon, Jaylen 5 ; Brooks, Ben 4 ; Goodman, Hunter 3 ; Trela, Alec 1 ; Wilson, Zach 2 ; Howell, Taylor 1 ; Baskin, Austin 1 ; Hildreth, Max 1 ; Bibiloni, Ian 1 ; Bell, Evan 2 ; Webb, Braden 3
SB: Wilbon, Jaylen 1
HBP: Howell, Taylor 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
6
R
4
H
4
RBI
5
c/1b
AB
6
R
3
H
3
RBI
7
rf/lf
AB
4
R
5
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
C/UTL
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF
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